Idaho blows out Eastern Washington

MOSCOW – In 2021, the Eastern Washington Eagles hosted the Idaho Vandals at Cheney and dominated, winning 71-21 on Oct. 21 of that year.

This win was shortly after the two teams each had a seven-point victory over each other in the COVID-shortened spring 2021 season, with Idaho winning on Feb. 27, 2021, 28-21 and Eastern Washington winning 38-31 on April 10, 2021.

With the pattern of the two teams sharing wins the past two seasons, it makes sense that the Vandals got their win back this season, with them blowing out the Eagles 48-16 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow on Nov. 5.

A lot has changed between the two teams since the game in October of 2021. Walter Camp award-winning quarterback Eric Barriere graduated from Eastern Washington and the Eagles lost several other starters on the team, and the Idaho Vandals have a new coach in Jason Eck and several new starters on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

The status quo between the two teams has also shifted.

"Belief," Eastern Washington coach Aaron Best said about the difference in Idaho last year compared to this year. "I think coach Eck came in here and brought some guys in that weren't on the club last year, but nucleus-wise they're all the same. (Gevani McCoy) is playing out of his mind, as well, can beat you with his arm and his feet, he's in control of the offense. They do a lot of different things – a lot of shifts and (motion) – to get your eyes in bad spots. Just well-controlled, well-understood. They're not going to beat themselves. You're going to have to beat them and we didn't do that today."

Eastern Washington, usual powerhouses in the Big Sky conference and the FCS as a whole, stood at 2-6 coming into the game with only one conference win, and Idaho was coming into the game as the #15-ranked team in the FCS and were 5-3 on the season with a 4-1 conference record.

The beginning of the game looked to be Eastern Washington attempting to keep the status quo intact, at least between the two PNW rivals.

Eastern Washington's defense was able to stall the Idaho offense on the first drive of the game and took over the ball on offense early in the first quarter.

Idaho's defense forced the Eagles to two fourth-down situations after, with EWU converting on a 4th & 6. EWU had another 4th & short but a false start backed the Eagles up so they took a field goal to go up 3-0 early in the first quarter.

Eastern Washington's defense showed its talons again on Idaho's ensuing drive, with cornerback Keshaun King intercepting Vandals quarterback Gevani McCoy on the first play of the drive.

The offense of the Eagles were not able to take advantage of the field position and Idaho took the ball over again after getting a fourth down stop.

Idaho got its first score of the game with a 33-yard touchdown pass from McCoy to wide receiver Hayden Hatten. It would be the first of four touchdown receptions for Hatten in the game, tying a single-game Idaho school record.

Eastern Washington tried to light a spark in its offense by inserting freshman Kekoa Visperas into the game. Idaho got a one-yard tackle for loss and a sack on Visperas to force a punt on 4th & 20 to get the ball back.

Idaho ended the first quarter with a 1st & goal situation that ultimately ended up in the second of Hatten's touchdown receptions, as the Vandals took a 14-3 lead over the Eagles with 14:48 to go in the first half.

The Eagles didn't score until 6:55 to go in the second quarter, with quarterback Gunner Talkington connecting with receiver Nolan Ulm for an 87-yard touchdown reception.

Idaho scored two more touchdowns and went into halftime up 35-10.

Eastern Washington didn't score again until 9:49 left in the fourth quarter, with Talkington throwing his second and last touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Roberson.

By that point the game was already out of reach, and Idaho scored one more time after for the 32-point win.

"There was a lot of good stuff, just not a longevity of good stuff," Eastern Washington coach Aaron Best said. "Up 3-0, cause a turnover on the plus-side of the 50 (yard line). No quit. Plus-two in the turnover margin, we just didn't do a ton with it, left the defense out there too much, for too long. Ran the ball effectively against us, just couldn't get off the field. A lot of fight, a lot of courage, a lot of perseverance – just not enough points."

Eastern Washington's two longest plays of the day were the two touchdown passes to Ulm and Roberson – which comprised 162 of Talkington's 232 yards and both his touchdowns for the game.

Best was asked about the Eagles' not being able to string together big plays against the Vandals.

"You have to stay on the field on third down. You're going to need to get those explosive plays, you're going to need to score outside of the redzone, you got to get there. And to do that you got to be better on third and fourth down. Earlier in the game we went for it twice on fourth down, got one. One mustered three points, one mustered zero points. We had some explosive plays. We yearn for those, we've been accustomed to those, and it's unfair to these guys to compare 2021 to 2022."

Eastern Washington's loss to Idaho drops the Eagles to 2-7 on the season and 1-5 in Big Sky play, effectively eliminating them from playoff contention. The team can end the season 4-7 if they close out its season with wins at noon Nov. 12 in Missoula against the 6-3 Montana Grizzlies and Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. in Cheney against the 2-7 Northern Colorado Bears.